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Islandoftiki's 10 Gallon Custom Tank Build.


Islandoftiki

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CrownOfficial
The tank is made of win and awesome. There are some new additions in there that I need to photograph. Some various palys, zoas, orange monti cap, blue birdsnest, candycane, etc.

 

I'll try to get some pics posted tonight. :)

 

My order for a 15 custom was placed this past weekend. So In about 3 weeks I should start getting all the equipment in. hopefully plumbing the sump will be a lot easier than I'm making it out to be :/. Cant wait to see the pics, I haven't seen many other members with these acrylic tanks from mike so I want to see what I'll be able to do with mine once it arrives.

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Tank looks great! How are you finding the acrylic's clarity holding up? I was worried about it hazing over time even with an acrylic scraper...

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Islandoftiki
Tank looks great! How are you finding the acrylic's clarity holding up? I was worried about it hazing over time even with an acrylic scraper...

 

Still clear as a bell. Has a few very tiny scratches. Very hard to see. You have to be careful when you clean acrylic with a mag cleaner so you don't get any sand under it. I also have a plastic scraper that I use that requires me to stick my hand in the tank. I use that near the sand bed so I don't risk scratches. Overall, it's harder to scratch than I would have thought.

 

I have worse scratches in the glass of my pest tank... you can scratch glass easier than you would think. At least you can buff out acrylic if you ever need to.

 

With a little care, you shouldn't have any real problems with scratches.

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Islandoftiki

Photo updates are going to have to wait until I make it home before the daylight bulbs tugn off. I made it home just in time for the tank to switch to full actinic evening mode.

 

Everything is looking awesome though.

 

As of tomorrow's water change, I'm switching to Kent reef salt and see how that goes. IO Reef Crystals have been lacking in Alk for me and I'm finding the excess buildup of brown crud (anti-caking clay?) on the mixing powerhead to be annoying. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

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This is looking killer, love it. I just ordered a media basket from inTank this morning for my AC70 as well as a Hydor 50w and a few other things. I also have a Micro-Reefs shallow but it's 8.3 gallons - a bit shorter than the 10. Like yours, mine was a custom order (I needed to fit a specific shelf) that became a stock item for Mike. I received the tank forever-ago but other life things have conspired to delay setup. It won't be long now, though, and I'll be looking to this thread for inspiration!

 

OT: Your avatar pic appears to have pinball machines in the background, as does your costume pic above. Are those yours or do you spend lots of time in arcades getting photographed? :)

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Islandoftiki
This is looking killer, love it. I just ordered a media basket from inTank this morning for my AC70 as well as a Hydor 50w and a few other things. I also have a Micro-Reefs shallow but it's 8.3 gallons - a bit shorter than the 10. Like yours, mine was a custom order (I needed to fit a specific shelf) that became a stock item for Mike. I received the tank forever-ago but other life things have conspired to delay setup. It won't be long now, though, and I'll be looking to this thread for inspiration!

 

OT: Your avatar pic appears to have pinball machines in the background, as does your costume pic above. Are those yours or do you spend lots of time in arcades getting photographed? :)

 

You're going to be really happy with your tank. What lighting are you going with?

 

My avatar pic is from a few months ago in some bar in NW Portland. A large group of us was out playing Urban Golf. This is Urban Golf:

 

The costume pic was taken at Voodoo Donuts. A friend was having a costumed Renewal of Vows and we were in the wedding party.

 

I guess I tend to frequent places that have pinball machines... or there are just a lot of them here in Portland. They're popular with the hipsters.

 

I'll have to get a picture taken at Ground Kontrol Arcade: http://groundkontrol.com/ (Actually I probably have some pics of us playing Rock Band live on stage.)

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Ahh, ok, that explains it. :) That Ground Kontrol bathroom is awesome. I'd like to wallpaper my office with the wall textures from the original Doom.

 

You're going to be really happy with your tank. What lighting are you going with?

 

Haven't really decided. I really like the colors of yours with T5 but am leaning towards something I can mount to the shelf above the tank (pic here) for ease of access, less heat transfer, and to keep it away from the kids. As you see, pretty cramped but it's da space I got. The shelf unit is now pulled out further than the pic shows to fit the AC70. Maybe one of these as I've no time to DIY.

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Islandoftiki
Ahh, ok, that explains it. :) That Ground Kontrol bathroom is awesome. I'd like to wallpaper my office with the wall textures from the original Doom.

 

 

 

Haven't really decided. I really like the colors of yours with T5 but am leaning towards something I can mount to the shelf above the tank (pic here) for ease of access, less heat transfer, and to keep it away from the kids. As you see, pretty cramped but it's da space I got. The shelf unit is now pulled out further than the pic shows to fit the AC70. Maybe one of these as I've no time to DIY.

 

Something to consider. I have my tank on a very sturdy cabinet and in the past couple months, the top of the cabinet has started to sag about 1/16" leaving a small gap under the middle of my tank. Your shelf looks less substantial than the cabinet I'm using. You might need to brace it in the middle, below the tank all the way to the floor. Don't forget, that tank is going to weigh close to 70 lbs fully loaded with salt water.

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Islandoftiki

As promised, picture updates of some of the new corals...

 

My new Monti... This orange-red monti is apparently a very fast grower. I've only had it a couple weeks. I have a couple pieces of this stuff scattered around.

2DD907CE.jpg

 

This new addition is a Fuzzy Chiton from Reef Cleaners. He's like a cross between a potato bug and a snail. He is extremely slow and extremely thorough. Can you see him? Left of the pink palys. Above, a new candy cane coral given to me by a local reefer.

4E3AF8CB.jpg

 

My ricordea rock is coming along great. Speedy sixline photobomber...

94FC0C4B.jpg

 

New frag of birdsnest with blue polyps. It's already starting to grow new branches!

83C2E10B.jpg

 

This is about a 2" diameter frag of Tyree Golden Eye chalice. I finally found a spot for it that was sufficiently shaded before it got bleached out.

8B1D6FA6.jpg

 

I got these zoas in a trade from a local reefer. Not sure what they are. Pretty sure they have a name. My Yellow Watchman Goby is happy as a clam guarding her pistol shrimp's den.

F938531D.jpg

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Islandoftiki

How about a big ol' Full Tank Shot to show everything new?

 

009EC196.jpg

 

The Xenia in this tank is moving on to some fellow local reefers looking for some good beginning corals.

 

I will be replacing them with some various SPS corals next week.

 

 

 

Note: I added a Hydor Evo-Mag 180 powerhead on the left to help circulation at the back of the tank and prevent detritus buildup back there. Any visible buildup was instantly gone upon firing it up. Nice little pump.

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Looking killer as always! I'm going to have to consider that skimmer myself as that 10" slot in back is pretty tight once you get the AC70 back there. Lots of gunk produced?

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Nice tank! From the photos and the video the tank feels bigger than 10gal to me. I think the long dimension makes it feel bigger than it is.

 

That cleaner shrimp spawning was really awesome, its great that you were able to capture it on video.

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Islandoftiki

More new goodies today!!

 

Some Cali Tort and some Blackmagic acro. Superman monti, and I'm blanking on what the big one is. Also got a nice sized halimeda from the LFS.

 

2B1F55B9.jpg

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  • 3 months later...

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted any updates on this tank. It's still doing awesome. Not a lot of new stuff to report. The SPS has been doing well, and I traded some xenia from the pest tank for THIS:

 

2421F99E-orig.jpg

 

It's a pretty one!

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
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I do need to do some updates! Nothing too new in the tank. I haven't added too much. Started to develop a minor algae/phosphate issue, but that's under control now and the algae is going away. All of the new stuff is going on in the 25 gallon mantis/mushroom tank and the 7 gallon pest crab tank.

 

Here's a picture from the other day...

 

bbb85d53-ec96-416d-9e93-9d04de3a1f7e_zps

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